System and method for exchanging connection information for videoconferencing units using e-mails

ABSTRACT

A videoconferencing system includes a first videoconferencing unit coupled to a network and associated with a first e-mail address. The first videoconferencing unit receives a second e-mail address and automatically sends a request e-mail requesting connection information to the second e-mail address. A second videoconferencing unit is coupled to the network and is associated with the second e-mail address. The second videoconferencing unit receives the request e-mail and automatically returns a response e-mail including connection information to the first e-mail address. The first videoconferencing unit receives the response e-mail and automatically obtains the connection information from the response e-mail. Using the connection information, the first videoconferencing unit initiates a videoconference call with the second videoconference unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/277,967, filed 30 Mar. 2006, to which priority is claimed, which isincorporated herein by reference, and which was filed concurrently withU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/277,979, entitled “System and Methodfor Exchanging Connection Information for Videoconferencing Units UsingInstant Messaging,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject matter of the present disclosure relates to a system andmethod for exchanging connection information for videoconferencing unitsusing e-mails.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Videoconferencing systems use Internet Protocol (IP) addresses toestablish connections between them. When the IP address is not fixed,users may find it difficult to find and dial each participant's IPaddress to establish the videoconference. For example, a user may haveto access a directory server and obtain the current IP addresses forpotential participants of the videoconference. Alternatively, the usermay have to call each participant to obtain his or her IP address overthe telephone. The user must then manually enter the current IPaddresses into the user's videoconferencing system to initiatevideoconference calls to the potential participants.

The subject matter of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming,or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems setforth above.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A videoconferencing system includes a first videoconferencing unit andone or more second videoconference units coupled to one or morenetworks. The first videoconferencing unit is associated with a firste-mail address, and the one or more second units are associated with oneor more second e-mail addresses. A user at the first videoconferencingunit enters one or more of the second e-mail addresses as potentialparticipants in a videoconference call. For example, the user canmanually enter the e-mail addresses or access them in an address bookdatabase that is part of the videoconferencing unit. Once e-mailaddresses have been entered, the first videoconferencing unitautomatically configures request e-mails to request connectioninformation from the second videoconferencing units having enterede-mail addresses. For example, the first videoconference unit constructseach request e-mail to include the first e-mail address of the firstvideoconferencing unit as the source of the e-mails, a second e-mailaddress of one of the second videoconferencing units as a destination,and an indication of what connection information is requested from thesecond videoconferencing unit. The connection information can includes,but may not be limited to, the Integrated Services Digital Network(ISDN), Internet Protocol (IP), or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)address of the second videoconferencing unit. The address can be fixed,or it can change depending on how the second unit is assigned itsvideoconferencing address. The connection information can also be anumber for an IP-to-IP Gateway. The requested connection information canalso include information regarding encryption or authenticationassociated with the second videoconferencing unit.

Once the request e-mails are constructed, the first videoconferencingunit sends the request e-mails to the second e-mail addresses of thesecond videoconferencing units. In turn, the second videoconferencingunits receive the request e-mails and parse the coded language of therequest e-mail to determine what is requested. The secondvideoconferencing units then obtain the requested information, and eachof the second units automatically constructs a response e-mail byincluding its second e-mail address as the source, the first e-mailaddress as the destination, and its ISDN address, IP address, SIPaddress, number for an IP-to-IP Gateway, or other connection informationfor establishing a videoconference call. The second videoconferencingunits then send the response e-mails to the first e-mail address. Thefirst videoconferencing unit receives the response e-mails andautomatically obtains the connection information from the responsee-mails by parsing the coded language and extracting the information.Using the connection information, the first videoconferencing unit theninitiates videoconference calls with the second videoconference units.

The foregoing summary is not intended to summarize each potentialembodiment or every aspect of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, preferred embodiments, and other aspects ofsubject matter of the present disclosure will be best understood withreference to a detailed description of specific embodiments, whichfollows, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a videoconferencing system accordingto certain teachings of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process of operation of the disclosedvideoconferencing system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a screen for initiating avideoconference.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an e-mail requesting connectioninformation from a videoconferencing unit.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an e-mail returning connectioninformation to a videoconferencing unit.

While the subject matter of the present disclosure is susceptible tovarious modifications and alternative forms, specific embodimentsthereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are hereindescribed in detail. The figures and written description are notintended to limit the scope of the inventive concepts in any manner.Rather, the figures and written description are provided to illustratethe inventive concepts to a person skilled in the art by reference toparticular embodiments, as required by 134 U.S.C. §112.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a videoconferencing system 100 according to certainteachings of the present disclosure is schematically illustrated. Thesystem 100 uses back-end e-mails 132 and 134 between a callingvideoconference unit 110A and one or more recipient videoconferenceunits 110B. The back-end e-mails 132 and 134 exchange current IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN) address, Internet Protocol (IP) address,Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address, number for an IP-to-IPGateway, or any other connection information for establishing avideoconference call between the units 110A-B. The e-mails 132 and 134can be handled by one or more e-mail servers 130 via the Internet, forexample.

Each unit 110A-110B includes an e-mail application 120 as an internalcomponent of its software. The e-mail application 120 has an addressbook function 122 and has send and read functions 124 and 126 forrespectively sending and reading e-mails 132 and 134. The send function124 for sending e-mails, although it can be initiated by the user, ispreferably operated automatically by the e-mail application 120 of theunit 110. For example, the send function 124 preferably formats andconfigures appropriate information in an e-mail 132 or 134 and sends itto the specified recipient unit(s) 110. To configure the e-mail, thesend function 124 can code the information using an appropriate language(e.g., Hypertext Markup Language or Extensible Markup Language) and canarrange the information in a predefined format known to the specifiedrecipient unit(s) 110.

Likewise, the read function 126 for reading e-mails is preferablyoperated automatically by the e-mail application 120 of the units 110.For example, the read function 126 preferably retrieves appropriateinformation automatically from a received e-mail 132 or 134. To retrieveinformation from the e-mail, the send function 124 can parse the code ofthe e-mail 132 or 134 and can extract appropriate information from thatparsed code.

The videoconferencing units 110 also include audio and video components150, one or more network interface 160, and a database or memory 170.The memory 170 can store e-mail addresses and other contact informationfor the address book function 122. In addition, the memory 170 can storeconnection information and other details related to establishing avideoconference call with the associated videoconferencing unit 110. Theaudio and video components 150 can be those components known in the artfor handling audio and video of a videoconference. For example, theaudio and video components 150 can include software and circuitry forencoding, decoding, compressing, and decompressing audio and videosignals for a videoconference session. Likewise, the network interface160 can includes those components known in the art for handlingcommunications 136 of a videoconference. Accordingly, the audio andvideo components 150 and the network interfaces 160 are not described indetail herein.

In FIG. 1, the e-mails 132 and 134 are shown being transmitted apartfrom the one or more network interfaces 160 for illustrative purposes.It will be appreciated that each unit 110 can have one interface 160 forhandling e-mails 132 and 134 and another interface 160 for handlingvideoconference calls 136. Alternatively, it will be appreciated thateach unit 110 can use the same network interface 160 for handling bothe-mails 132 and 134 and videoconference calls 136. In one embodiment,one network interface 160 is used on each unit 110 for handling bothe-mails 132 and 134 and videoconference calls 136 over the Internet.

Referring to FIG. 2, a process 200 of operation of the videoconferencingsystem is illustrated in flow chart form. (Element numerals ofcomponents in FIG. 1 are concurrently provided in the discussion of FIG.2). In the discussion that follows, it is assumed that a user at a firstvideoconferencing unit 110A wants to establish a videoconference callwith a user at a second videoconferencing unit 110B. Both units 110A and110B have email applications 120 internal to their software, and eachunit 110A and 110B has an assigned email address (e.g.,“unitA@serverA.com” and “unitB@serverB.com”).

Initially, user A initiates contact with user B by manually entering ane-mail address or by accessing a previously stored e-mail address storedin memory 170 of user A's unit 110A using the address book function 122(Block 210). An example of a screen for initiating this contact isdiscussed below with reference to FIG. 3. Once user A has selectedvideoconference participants, videoconferencing unit 110A automaticallyconfigures an e-mail 132 requesting information for connecting with unit110B (Block 212). As noted previously, the send function 124automatically constructs the request e-mail 132 by arranging therequested information in a predefined format using an appropriate codinglanguage for the e-mail 132. The requested information includes, but isnot limited to, the ISDN address, IP address, SIP address, or number foran IP-to-IP Gateway of unit 110B.

After configuring the request e-mail 132, the first videoconferencingunit 110A sends the request email 132 to the second videoconferencingunit 110B using the previously entered or selected e-mail address (Block214). An example of a request e-mail requesting information from avideoconferencing unit is discussed below with reference to FIG. 4. Asnoted above, the request e-mail 132 is handled using e-mail servers andother components known in the art.

After being sent, the second videoconferencing unit 110B receives therequest e-mail 132 and validates the request for information (Block220). The process of validation can be used when some customarysafeguards are used by e-mail applications 120 of the units 110A and110B. For example, the request e-mail 132 may have to pass any spamfilters or other protective measures on the second videoconferencingunit 110B. Preferably, the second videoconferencing unit 110B ispreconfigured to accept and recognize request e-mails 132 requestinginformation from the first videoconferencing unit 110A. In this way, thevalidation process performed at the second unit 110B can be simplified.

After validation, the second videoconferencing unit 110B automaticallyreads the request e-mail 132, obtains the requested information, andconfigures a response e-mail 134 with the connection information (Block222). As noted previously, the read function 126 of the second unit 110Bautomatically parses the code of the request e-mail 132 and determineswhat information is requested. Then, the e-mail application 120 obtainsthe requested information from the unit's memory or database 170. Next,the send function 124 automatically constructs the response e-mail 134by arranging the requested information in a predefined format using anappropriate coding language for the e-mail 134.

The second videoconferencing unit 110B then sends its response e-mail134 back to the first videoconferencing unit 110A (Block 224). Inaddition to the ISDN address, IP address, SIP address, or number for anIP-to-IP Gateway, the response e-mail 134 can include other informationrelevant to establishing a videoconference with the second unit 110B.For example, the response e-mail 134 can include information aboutencryption and authentication that the first unit 110A may need toestablish the connection with second unit 110B. An example of a responsee-mail returning information to a videoconferencing unit is discussedbelow with reference to FIG. 5.

When the response e-mail 134 is received, the first videoconferencingunit 110A reads the response e-mail 134 to obtain the connectioninformation (Block 230). Based on the connection information, the firstvideoconferencing unit 110A then dials or calls the secondvideoconferencing unit 110B (Block 232). Finally, the videoconferencecall is established as the first and second units 110A and 110B connect(Block 234).

As discussed previously, a user at a videoconferencing unit can initiatecontact with potential participants by entering or selecting e-mailaddresses of other videoconferencing units. Referring to FIG. 3, anexample of a screen 300 for entering or selecting e-mail addresses toinitiate a videoconference is illustrated. In this screen 300, which isaccessible using a user interface for a videoconferencing unit, the usercan enter the e-mail addresses of one or more other videoconferencingunits 310 with which the user wishes to initiate a videoconference. Inone way, the user can manually enter an e-mail address for avideoconferencing unit 310 in one of the participant fields 312. Inanother way, the user can select an address book button 314 and accessan address book screen (not shown) that lists various saved user namesand associated e-mail addresses. By then selecting from the list, theparticipant field 312 in the screen 300 can be populated with theassociated e-mail address of the selected videoconferencing unit 310.More videoconferencing units can be added by selecting an AddParticipant button 316. When the user has selected all the desiredvideoconferencing units 310 to participate, the user can finish theselection process by selecting a button 320 to initiate back-end contactwith the videoconferencing units 310. At this point, the user'svideoconferencing unit composes and sends request e-mails to the e-mailaddresses of the videoconferencing units 310.

As discussed previously, a request e-mail is sent from onevideoconferencing unit to another to request connection information.Referring to FIG. 4, an example of a request e-mail 400 for requestingconnection information from a videoconferencing unit is illustrated. Therequest e-mail 400 is shown in memo style for convenience, but it isunderstood that the actual e-mail 400 includes source code in HypertextMark-up Language (HTML) or other suitable computer language, forexample. In addition, the request e-mail 400 is shown requesting certaininformation in an exemplary format. The details and format are providedfor illustrative purposes, and the request e-mail 400 can have anydetails and format commensurate with the teachings of the presentdisclosure.

The request e-mail 400 lists the e-mail address 402 of thevideoconferencing unit (e.g. “unitA@serverA.com”) that is the source andthe e-mail address 404 of the videoconferencing unit (e.g.“unitB@serverB.com”) that is the destination. The request e-mail 400 canalso include a header line 406 that can provide some form of code orother indication for the receiving videoconference unit to recognize thetype of request.

The request e-mail 400 also includes a message 410 requesting variouspieces of information 420. For example, the requested information 420includes a connection address, such as the ISDN address, IP address, SIPaddress, or number for an IP-to-IP Gateway, of the receivingvideoconferencing unit. In addition, the requested information 420 caninclude encryption or authentication information that may be needed toestablish a videoconference call with the receiving videoconferencingunit. This information can be formatted using various headers, tags,codes, or the like that will be recognized by the software of thevarious videoconferencing units. In addition, the requested information420 may include various validation codes or the like recognized by thereceiving videoconferencing unit and used to validate the request e-mail400. Because the e-mail 400 is coded in HTML or other suitable computerlanguage, the receiving videoconferencing unit has software capable ofparsing and extracting information from the e-mail 400 and capable ofprocessing the extracted information to validate and comply with therequest.

As discussed previously, a response e-mail is sent from onevideoconferencing unit to another to return connection information forestablishing a videoconference call. Referring to FIG. 5, an example ofa response e-mail 500 returning connection information to avideoconferencing unit is illustrated. Again, the response e-mail 500 isshown in memo style for convenience, but it is understood that theactual e-mail includes source code in Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML)or other suitable computer language, for example. In addition, theresponse e-mail 500 is shown returning certain information in anexemplary format. The details and format are provided for illustrativepurposes, and the e-mail 500 can have any details and formatcommensurate with the teachings of the present disclosure.

As with the request e-mail (400; FIG. 4) discussed previously, theresponse e-mail 500 lists the e-mail address 502 of the source (e.g.,“unitB@serverB.com”) and the e-mail address 504 of the destination(e.g., “unitA@serverA.com”), which belongs to the videoconferencing unitthat originally requested information. The response e-mail 500 can alsoinclude a header line 506 that can provide some form of code or the likefor the receiving videoconferencing unit to recognize the type ofreturned information.

The response e-mail 500 also includes a message 510 containing variouspieces of information 520 requested from the sending unit. For example,the information 520 includes a connection address, such as the ISDNaddress, IP address, SIP address, or number for an IP-to-IP Gateway, ofthe sending videoconferencing unit. In addition, the information 520 cancontain encryption or authentication information that may be needed toestablish a videoconference call with the sending videoconferencingunit. This encryption or authentication information can be formattedinto various codes, indications, or the like recognized by the receivingunit. In addition, the information 520 may include various validationcodes recognized by the receiving unit and used to validate the message510. Because the response e-mail 500 is coded in HTML or other suitablecomputer language, the receiving unit has software capable of extractinginformation from the code and processing the extracted information tovalidate and comply with the request.

The foregoing description of preferred and other embodiments is notintended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of theinventive concepts conceived of by the Applicant. In exchange fordisclosing the inventive concepts contained herein, the Applicantdesires all patent rights afforded by the appended claims. Therefore, itis intended that the appended claims include all modifications andalterations to the full extent that they come within the scope of thefollowing claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A first videoconferencing unit, comprising: at least one networkinterface for communicating e-mails and establishing videoconferencingconnections over at least one network; and at least one componentoperatively coupled to the at least one network interface and configuredto automatically: send a request e-mail to an e-mail address of a secondvideoconferencing unit, the request e-mail requesting connectioninformation for establishing a videoconferencing connection with thesecond videoconferencing unit via the at least one network interface,obtain connection information from a response e-mail received from thesecond videoconferencing unit via the at least one network interface,and initiate a videoconferencing connection via the at least one networkinterface using the obtained connection information.
 2. The unit ofclaim 1, wherein to send the request e-mail, the at least one componentobtains the e-mail address of the second videoconferencing unit via auser interface or from memory storing one or more e-mail addresses. 3.The unit of claim 1, wherein to send the request e-mail, the at leastone component automatically constructs the request e-mail in a parseableformat to include one or more indications of requested connectioninformation.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein to automatically obtainthe connection information from the response e-mail, the at least onecomponent is configured to: parse the response e-mail received from thesecond videoconferencing unit; read the e-mail address of the secondvideoconferencing unit from the parsed e-mail; and read the connectioninformation indicated in the parsed e-mail.
 5. The unit of claim 1,wherein the connection information comprises one or more of: anIntegrated Services Digital Network address, an Internet Protocoladdress, a Session Initiation Protocol address, a number for an IP-to-IPGateway, encryption information for decrypting videoconferencinginformation, and authentication information for authenticating avideoconferencing connection.
 6. The unit of claim 1, wherein in anautomated response mode, the at least one component is furtherconfigured to automatically: obtain stored connection information frommemory in response to a request e-mail received from anothervideoconferencing unit; obtain an e-mail address from the requeste-mail; generate a response e-mail having the stored connectioninformation; and send the response e-mail to the e-mail address of theother videoconferencing unit.
 7. A videoconferencing method, comprising:obtaining at a first videoconferencing unit an e-mail address associatedwith a second videoconferencing unit; automatically sending a requeste-mail from the first videoconferencing unit to the secondvideoconferencing unit, the request e-mail requesting connectioninformation for establishing a videoconferencing connection; receiving aresponse e-mail at the first videoconferencing unit from the secondvideoconferencing unit; automatically obtaining with the firstvideoconferencing unit the connection information from the responsee-mail; and automatically initiating a videoconferencing connection withthe first videoconferencing unit to the second videoconferencing unitusing the obtained connection information.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein obtaining the e-mail address comprises receiving the e-mailaddress as user input or accessing a database storing the e-mailaddress.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein automatically sending therequest e-mail comprises automatically constructing the request e-mailin a parseable format to include one or more indications of requestedconnection information.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein automaticallyobtaining the connection information from the response e-mail comprises:parsing the response e-mail; reading the e-mail address for the secondvideoconferencing unit from the parsed e-mail; and reading theconnection information indicated in the parsed e-mail.
 11. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the connection information comprises one or more of: anIntegrated Services Digital Network address, an Internet Protocoladdress, a Session Initiation Protocol address, a number for an IP-to-IPGateway, encryption information for decrypting videoconferencinginformation, and authentication information for authenticating avideoconferencing connection.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein in anautomated response mode, the method further comprises: obtaining storedconnection information from memory in response to a request e-mail fromanother videoconferencing unit; obtaining an e-mail address from therequest e-mail; generating a response e-mail having the storedconnection information; and sending the response e-mail to the e-mailaddress of the other videoconferencing unit.
 13. A program storagedevice having program instructions stored thereon for causing avideoconferencing unit to perform a videoconferencing method, the methodcomprising: obtaining at a first videoconferencing unit an e-mailaddress associated with a second videoconferencing unit; automaticallysending a request e-mail from the first videoconferencing unit to thesecond videoconferencing unit, the request e-mail requesting connectioninformation for establishing a videoconferencing connection; receiving aresponse e-mail at the first videoconferencing unit from the secondvideoconferencing unit; automatically obtaining with the firstvideoconferencing unit the connection information from the responsee-mail; and automatically initiating a videoconferencing connection withthe first videoconferencing unit to the second videoconferencing unitusing the obtained connection information.
 14. The program storagedevice of claim 13, wherein obtaining the e-mail address comprisesreceiving the e-mail address as user input or accessing a databasestoring the e-mail address.
 15. The program storage device of claim 13,wherein automatically sending the request e-mail comprises automaticallyconstructing the request e-mail in a parseable format to include one ormore indications of requested connection information.
 16. The programstorage device of claim 13, wherein automatically obtaining theconnection information from the response e-mail comprises: parsing theresponse e-mail; reading the e-mail address for the secondvideoconferencing unit from the parsed e-mail; and reading theconnection information indicated in the parsed e-mail.
 17. The programstorage device of claim 13, wherein the connection information comprisesone or more of: an Integrated Services Digital Network address, anInternet Protocol address, a Session Initiation Protocol address, anumber for an IP-to-IP Gateway, encryption information for decryptingvideoconferencing information, and authentication information forauthenticating a videoconferencing connection.
 18. The program storagedevice of claim 13, wherein in an automated response mode, the methodfurther comprises: obtaining stored connection information from memoryin response to a request e-mail from another videoconferencing unit;obtaining an e-mail address from the request e-mail; generating aresponse e-mail having the stored connection information; and sendingthe response e-mail to the e-mail address of the other videoconferencingunit.
 19. A first videoconferencing unit, comprising: memory storingfirst connection information for establishing a videoconferencingconnection with the first videoconferencing unit; at least one networkinterface for communicating e-mails and establishing videoconferencingconnections over at least one network; and at least one componentoperatively coupled to the memory and the at least one networkinterface, the at least one component configured to automatically:obtain the first connection information from the memory in response to arequest e-mail received from a second videoconferencing unit, therequest e-mail requesting connection information, obtain an e-mailaddress of the second videoconferencing unit from the request e-mail,generate a response e-mail having the first connection information, andsend the response e-mail to the e-mail address of the secondvideoconferencing unit.
 20. The unit of claim 19, wherein the at leastone component is configured to automatically establish avideoconferencing connection upon detection of an incomingvideoconferencing call from the second videoconferencing unit.
 21. Theunit of claim 19, wherein the response e-mail from the firstvideoconferencing unit requests second connection information from thesecond videoconferencing unit.
 22. The unit of claim 19, wherein theresponse e-mail is in a parseable format having an e-mail address of thefirst videoconferencing unit as a source, the e-mail address of thesecond videoconferencing unit as a destination, and one or moreindications of the connection information requested by the secondvideoconferencing unit.
 23. The unit of claim 19, wherein the connectioninformation comprises one or more of: an Integrated Services DigitalNetwork address, an Internet Protocol address, a Session InitiationProtocol address, a number for an IP-to-IP Gateway, encryptioninformation for decrypting videoconferencing information, andauthentication information for authenticating a videoconferencingconnection.
 24. The unit of claim 19, wherein in an automated requestmode, the at least one component is configured to automatically: send arequest e-mail to an e-mail address of another videoconferencing unit,the request e-mail requesting connection information for establishing avideoconferencing connection; obtain connection information in aresponse e-mail from the other videoconferencing unit; and initiate avideoconferencing connection via the at least one network interfaceusing the obtained connection information.
 25. A videoconferencingmethod, comprising: receiving at a first videoconferencing unit arequest e-mail from a second videoconferencing unit requestingconnection information for establishing a videoconferencing connectionwith the first videoconferencing unit; obtaining the requestedconnection information; automatically generating a response e-mailhaving the obtained connection information; automatically sending theresponse e-mail to the e-mail address; detecting an incomingvideoconferencing connection from the second videoconferencing unit; andconnecting with the incoming videoconferencing connection when detected.26. The method of claim 25, wherein the response e-mail from the firstvideoconferencing unit requests second connection information from thesecond videoconferencing unit.
 27. The method of claim 25, whereinautomatically sending the response e-mail comprises automaticallyconstructing the response e-mail in a parseable format to include ane-mail address of the first videoconferencing unit as a source, thee-mail address of the second videoconferencing unit as a destination,and one or more indications of the connection information requested bythe second videoconferencing unit.
 28. The method of claim 25, whereinthe connection information comprises one or more of: an IntegratedServices Digital Network address, an Internet Protocol address, aSession Initiation Protocol address, a number for an IP-to-IP Gateway,encryption information for decrypting videoconferencing information, andauthentication information for authenticating a videoconferencingconnection.
 29. The unit method of claim 25, wherein in an automatedrequest mode, the method further comprises: sending a request e-mail toan e-mail address of another videoconferencing unit, the request e-mailrequesting connection information for establishing a videoconferencingconnection; obtaining connection information in a response e-mail fromthe other videoconferencing unit; and initiating a videoconferencingconnection via the at least one network interface using the obtainedconnection information.
 30. A program storage device having programinstructions stored thereon for causing a videoconferencing unit toperform a videoconferencing method, the method comprising: receiving ata first videoconferencing unit a request e-mail from a secondvideoconferencing unit requesting connection information forestablishing a videoconferencing connection with the firstvideoconferencing unit; obtaining the requested connection information;automatically generating a response e-mail having the obtainedconnection information; automatically sending the response e-mail to thee-mail address; detecting an incoming videoconferencing connection fromthe second videoconferencing unit; and connecting with the incomingvideoconferencing connection when detected.
 31. The program storagedevice of claim 30, wherein the response e-mail from the firstvideoconferencing unit requests second connection information from thesecond videoconferencing unit.
 32. The program storage device of claim30, wherein automatically sending the response e-mail comprisesautomatically constructing the response e-mail in a parseable format toinclude an e-mail address of the first videoconferencing unit as asource, the e-mail address of the second videoconferencing unit as adestination, and one or more indications of the connection informationrequested by the second videoconferencing unit.
 33. The program storagedevice of claim 30, wherein the connection information comprises one ormore of: an Integrated Services Digital Network address, an InternetProtocol address, a Session Initiation Protocol address, a number for anIP-to-IP Gateway, encryption information for decryptingvideoconferencing information, and authentication information forauthenticating a videoconferencing connection.
 34. The program storagedevice of claim 30, wherein in an automated request mode, the methodfurther comprises: sending a request e-mail to an e-mail address ofanother videoconferencing unit, the request e-mail requesting connectioninformation for establishing a videoconferencing connection; obtainingconnection information in a response e-mail from the othervideoconferencing unit; and initiating a videoconferencing connectionvia the at least one network interface using the obtained connectioninformation.